1Sing aloud to God our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God
of Jacob.
2Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the
lute.
3Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our
solemn feast day.
4For this is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob.
5This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the
land of Egypt,
Where I heard a language I did
not understand.
6“I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the
baskets.
7You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret
place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of
Meribah.
Selah
8“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen
to Me!
9There shall be no foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any
foreign god.
10I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you out of the
land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide, and I
will fill it.
11“But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have none of
Me.
12So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.
13“Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My
ways!
14I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their
adversaries.
15The haters of the Lord
would pretend submission to Him,
But their fate would endure
forever.
16He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;
And with honey from the rock I
would have satisfied you.”
Commentary
Vs.
1-5
1Sing aloud to God
our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God
of Jacob.
2Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the
lute.
3Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our
solemn feast day.
4For this is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob.
5This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the
land of Egypt,
Where I heard a language I did
not understand.
The Psalm opens with a declaration to praise our God, to make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob (i.e., Israel). The invocation then invites the musicians, i.e., the Levites to take up their instruments, the timbral, the harp, and the lute and to join in the chorus, yes to even create new melodies by which God maybe glorified and His people edified. Verse three then moves to the blowing of trumpet, called a shophar (BBC) which was used by the priests to signify the time of the new moon, likely the seventh new moon which was celebrated with a feast, often referred to as the Feast of Trumpets, (see Lev. 23:23-25; Num. 29:1). Verse four and five then declare this is a statute given by God to Israel, given them as a law of God of Jacob. Given to them when God Himself established a testimony in them when He went through the land of Egypt, “where I heard a language I did not understand”, is God speaking and basically saying He would not listen too or acknowledge the Egyptians during His judgments there through Moses. For they made their false worship practices and their false “gods”, gods who couldn’t deliver or save them (i.e. their Pharoah), as He did for Israel, their hope and trust.
Vs. 6-7 6“I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the
baskets.
7You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret
place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of
Meribah.
Selah
God now declares that it was He who removed Israel’s shoulder from the burdens the Egyptians laid upon them. That it was He who freed their hands from the baskets which they carried their brick and mortar in for the Egyptians. For He alone brought them out of their enslaved state to make them His people. For when they cried out to Him in their trouble, He delivered them (Ex. 2:23-25). Therefore He answered them in the secret place of thunder, by first bringing His judgments on the Egyptians (see Exodus 9:22-35), and then manifesting His Person, His Power to them through thunder, beginning with His giving them the Law at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1-20:21; also consider 1 Samuel 2:10; 12:17-25; Job 26:13-14; 36:26-33; 37:1-13; 40:9-14; Psalm 77:18-20; 104:5-9; Isaiah 29:5-8, vs. 6; Heb. Rev. 14:2-5 etc.). And having revealed Himself to them He then tested them at the waters of Meribah, where sadly Israel twice failed to believe Him (Exodus 17:1-7; Num. 20:2-13; 23:23-24; Deut. 32:48-51; also see Psalm 106:32).
O Israel, if you will listen
to Me!
9There shall be no foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any
foreign god.
10I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you out of the
land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide, and I will
fill it.
11“But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have none of
Me.
12So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.
God having reminded Israel how He saved them from their Egyptian enslavement now demands their faithfulness. Telling them that He will admonish them, (i.e. warned them) saying to them that there shall be no foreign god amongst them, nor shall they worship a foreign god. For He is the One who brought them out of Egypt, therefore there can be no divided loyalties with Him, as He says in Isaiah, “I will not give My Glory to another” (see Isaiah 42:8, 11). Having then admonished them, God now tells them to open their mouths and He will fill them, indicating His desires to bless them with His blessings that no one can fully imagine or number, and yet for all of that they themselves would not heed His voice. Therefore, they themselves withheld His blessings from themselves, as they would not believe nor obey Him. Therefore, God gave them over to their own stubborn hearts and let them walk in their own counsels, and so they reaped their own harvest of distance and sorrows from Him.
Vs. 13-16 13“Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My
ways!
14I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their
adversaries.
15The haters of the Lord
would pretend submission to Him,
But their fate would endure
forever.
16He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;
And with honey from the rock I
would have satisfied you.”
God now decries His own people’s stubbornness. For if they would only listen to Him He would subdue their enemies. Yes, He Himself would soon fight and turn His hand against all our adversaries. Verse fifteen now introduces a thought that God is not deceived by feigned submission to Him. For people, especially those people amongst His people who secretly hate Him, but pretend submission to Him, can only succeed for a time or a season, for their fate shall endure forever, just like Judas Iscariot’s fate now does. God Himself then closes out the Psalm by saying that He would’ve fed His people with the finest of wheat and caused them to eat honey from the rock, which is both literal as well as a spiritual metaphor for His overflowing blessings coming to them, to all who believe and obey Him!
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.
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